Yes he had 4df and 29 ue's. Andy is much smarter than he is and Andy and Lendl will have a plan.

Definitely. Andy said recently (can't find the actual quote) that the important thing was to try to neutralise Raonic's serve as far as possible and that even if he was serving well there were other "options". Andy may have lost in Barcelona but the match was long enough for him to suss out a few things about Raonic's game, and Andy is a fast learner. Obviously though it'll be helpful if Andy can find his own serve.

Lopez was very challenging no doubt but Andy himself was more challenging since he didn't seem all that prepared for this match. I liked the way Andy handled the situation though. He had a very specific gameplan to deal with both the conditions and his opponent. I guess he picked it up earlier on that Lopez wasn't going to go away that easily. From the 3rd set on, he was doing his best to conserve as much as energy as possible in case of a possible 5th set and it was critical for him to keep his calm and wait for the right moment to arrive.

Remember how Benneteau had Federer on the ropes and Federer was quickly 2 sets to love down at Wimbledon? it doesn't always have to be the conditions or the illness or anything else. Sometimes when you are least prepared and take your opponent a bit too lightly because of your comfortable H2H, **** happens. Rosol took even Nadal out in the 2nd round at Wimbledon. And if you know how big Nadal is as a player, what happened today was nothing - especially when Nadal got beaten by a player ranked 100. Then Del Potro was all over Federer at the Olympics semi too. Anyway, to me the result was never in doubt. I was just very frustrated that this had to go for this long since Andy has a tougher match ahead of him and I wanted to have an easier round for him, but who knows, really. Maybe this has put him in the right frame of mind. I guess we'll find out eventually.

Andy is quoted as saying that playing two daytime matches has helped him acclimatise to the conditions, and anyway the weather will be much cooler by Monday.

Also Andy did not under-estimate Lopez. He said before the match it was going to be a tough one, and he was right. Just unfortunately, but probably typically, Lopez was playing some of the best tennis of his career yesterday.

To be honest, I don't see why Andy would say that it's not going to be a tough match. That's not only underestimating your opponent but also, a very dumb comment if he were to say that he's not expecting a tough match. Very undiplomatic too. That's just seems more like a regular comment to me. I am sure Andy didn't think Lopez was going to play this well. Andy brought about 70% of himself to the court today and that's why he was immediately in trouble. Once he realized that it was a bit too late but because he's the better player regardless and a smart one, he prevailed in the end. This all came down to strategy in the end and Andy is a very good strategist. He constantly changes his plan during a match especially when he's in trouble. But because the same script worked each time before, he didn't come with a new plan today and that's why this was such a hard fought match. There are players who seem to trouble Murray no doubt but Lopez is not one of them - not even after this match.

Well noone on MW I seem to remember thought that Lopez would play that well. And while I'm sure Andy was wary, saying he's a tricky player, yes I'm sure he didn't expect him to play that well. The fact is sometimes good players raise their game when playing against much better players and he did that yesterday. And in those conditions Andy was pushed to find a way past him. But find it he did and showed great mental fortitude in doing so. And yes I'm sure it helped that apparently it wasn't quite so hot towards the end though it's all relative!

Wow......what a nerve racking match, I have never seen Lopez play so great, he played out his skin. Even the heat did not seem to effect him, maybe due to being Spanish. Andy had some classic shots, just breathtaking. I so hope his next match will be in the evening against Raonic.

Sir Panda is quite good in his support of Andy and stays positive most of the time. I was teasing him, really. This time though he was a bit off but then again a lot of the posters predicted a straight set victory for Andy in the first few pages as well. Truth of the matter is, Lopez caught Andy off guard. He caught us off guard. That's why Andy said in his post match interview that he'd give 100% in his next match. This was a bit Andy's fault because Lendl can teach Andy everything and tell him to give 100% all the time, but ultimately it's Andy who's the final product of the outcome and since he's human, he can manipulate all those decisions and make the ultimate calls as to how's he's going to play the match. Here, in this match, Andy pretty much paid the price for taking the match a bit lightly and I am sure his coach would tell him so but probably not as bluntly. Sharapova's coach will tell you that she almost never listens to him and always resorts to what she prefers while on court. No matter what plan is drawn out for her, she goes back to her usual self most of the time. Andy, of course, listens to Lendl most of the time but yesterday he clearly went out with a more relaxed attitude. He was about 30% aggressive and 70% passive.

Come to think of it though, you are also at fault for the 3rd set loss if you remember.

I think Andy took Lopez very seriously yesterday. He was the one who called it right to be honest, saying Lopez can be a tricky opponent when he is serving well, which is exactly what happened. I think you could say that in the dim and distant past Andy has mucked about a bit with lesser opponents. I don't think that was the case yesterday. Sure, Andy might have been caught a bit off guard by how well Lopez played, but I think everyone else was too, including Lopez.

I might be being thick, I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't see what Andy could have done much differently yesterday. They were toe-to-toe for two sets, for large parts of the match to be honest. It wasn't as if Andy was being totally outplayed and then just nabbed the thing. Andy began to struggle physically in the third, his movement went well off from his best. He looked like his legs had turned to lead on him. In that one particular game he did have something of a mental walkabout too, but the thing is he came through it. I would have thought that was the most important thing.

Andy began to struggle physically in the third, his movement went well off from his best. He looked like his legs had turned to lead on him. In that one particular game he did have something of a mental walkabout too, but the thing is he came through it. I would have thought that was the most important thing.

I was impressed with the way Andy came back. Showed a lot of mental strength, something which has improved a lot since Lendl came on the scene. No tantrums or beating himself up. He just got back in there in the 4th and got on with it, holding his nerve in what was a crucial tie-break. I doubt he had enough left physically to handle a 5th.

I think it was incredibly gritty. I read a comment somewhere after the Olympics about Andy and I think it is still valid in a way. Someone suggested that he enter his new found mental strength in the weightlifting! It made me laugh at the time, but there is some truth to it, a lot of truth. I feel that if people take the time to look they will see that Andy didn't keep it together purely for the Olympics, because he wanted a medal. He is keeping together as a matter of course, because it will help him get to where he wants to be.

What I feel Andy showed against Lopez, and against Bogomolov too, is that he not only has the game to get himself out of trouble, but the mind as well. Going back a year or so Andy might well have lost that match against Lopez, had Lopez played like he did the other night. Andy would almost certainly have emptied the tank by getting down on himself and using up his energy. The other night he had moments of frustration, but that is fine. He isn't a robot out there. However, every time, without fail, that something went wrong for him Andy got a grip, got his head down and started again. That gave him chance to work it out, allowed his talent, which is clearly huge, to shine through and put him in the position to win.

I must say I am proud of the way Andy is dealing with things in the US. In a sense it is easier, I suppose, to cope when things are going your way. It is tougher when things are more difficult. Andy is conducting himself like the pro he is and it is great to see.

I've absolutely no objection to Andy doing a fist pump, shouting 'focus' or showing some frustration, like by throwing his racquet on the ground (at least he doesn't smash it up like Djokovic regularly does) because to me it shows that he cares. He's got a natural fire in his belly, so he does need to let it out occasionally. Poker faced robots like Fed and Nadal quite frankly give me the creeps.